I took Friday off from work and my Mom and I headed to Seattle for a few days. The main reason for our two day foray down south was for my step sister Kat's (on my Dad's side) wedding, which was being held in Kirkland on Saturday. I insisted our first stop of the morning be at Alderwood mall so I could check out the only Daiso store in the country. If you've never heard of Daiso it's similar to our dollar stores but it's from Japan and everything is of far more superb quality and the variety of items sold is astounding. Although instead of everything being a dollar most items averaged $1.50. Daiso, which translates to "big creation" develops each of its own products. The store carries items that range from ceramic dishes to hair gel and everything in between. I ended up spending $13.00 at Daiso. Most of the items I purchased came from the pet aisle, craft aisle, and party aisle. We ate lunch at P.F. Chang's before heading to Cupcake Royale for cappuccinos and cupcakes. Then it was off to Fremont for a quick browse. We then stopped by Great Jones Home which didn't have much in terms of new offerings. Finally we ended our shopping day at Pacific Place. I found what I think is the most darling necklace at Club Monaco. It's made with vintage beads from Paris, or so they claim. Then while at Nordstrom I spotted the most frivolous of items, a cell phone bag. It's the most ridiculous thing but I just had to have it. We went for dinner at the Tom Douglas owned Dahlia Lounge. There I had one of the most memorable dinners of the summer. The "lemon scallion Dungeness crab cakes, with sweet chili avocado, caramelized romaine, tomatoes with basil and béarnaise." The dish was sublime. A perfect summer evening meal. We ended the dinner with a slice of Tom's renowned coconut cream pie. It definitely lived up to its reputation. Then we headed to our hotel for a long sleep. We began Saturday with breakfast at Cafe Campagne at the market. I had oeufs en meurette (two poached eggs served on garlic croutons with pearl onions, bacon and champignons in a red wine and foie gras sauce served with pommes frîtes). The meal was delicious as always. From there we checked out the offerings at Watson Kennedy. Then it was off to University Village for a few hours before the wedding. Our first destination was the Apple store. I've always owned PCs for as long as we've had a home computer. But after using a Mac at work these past few years I've decided my next laptop would be a Mac. Currently Apple stores are offering a fabulous educational discount. So in addition to a $100 off my MacBook I received a free HP photosmart printer and a free iPod. We piddled around University Village for a bit longer before heading to Kirkland for Kat and Jordan's wedding. Unfortunately the traffic over the floating bridge was horrendous and we arrived a bit late. The wedding was lovely and Kat looked just gorgeous. The reception was held at the Red Hook Brewery across from Chateau Ste. Michelle. Jordan's family was very southern, but in the best way possible. The food was delicious and the conversation was extensive. But I must say as happy as I was for my sister it's hard seeing a sibling 5 years younger than I getting married first.
